What are the most dystopic and utupic TLS you've ever read?

Onkel Willie

Not sure if this goes here. If it doesn't, an admin could move it.

Anyhoo, what are the most dystopic and utopic TLs you've ever read on this board? This thread is not constrained to post-1900 PoDs even though it's in the post-1900 forum. Any nominees for the two positions of most utopic and most dystopic?:D
 

President Al Bundy

Banned
For all time is definetely the most dystopian TL I've ever read. Because it could plausibly explain how and why Jim Jones and Andrej Chikatilo could become leaders of the USA respectively the USSR.

A World of Laughter, A World of Tears is however on a close second place.
 

Geekhis Khan

Agree on the Dystopics.

On Utopics, very few and often borderline cases ("better than OTL", but not true "good conquers all" utopia). Generally averted by writers here due to fears that they'll be received as "boring" or "wankish".

Eckner's Zeppelin President/Zeppelin Legacy TL has certain Utopic trends in avoiding WW2, ending nearly all 20th C. dictatorships in the cradle, and appears at the moment ot be moving towards a more stable Middle East. Plus a more congenial space race between neo-Imperial Germany and the US. Note though that it's a plausible TL and not IMO a wank (well, a Zeppelin wank certainly, but that's pretty much as labeled on the tin)...and it's certainly not boring! :D
 

Spitfiremk1

On one hand, TL 191 (apart from the obvious ones) would actually count as one of the most dystopic (for me at least). I mean, it has a massive, militaristic, Germanophone USA that gradually turns quasi-socialist state that totally rapes Canada together with a Victorious Whilhelmine Germany and Austria Hungary that then both go on to destroy the British Empire and nuke London, Paris and St Petersburg (three of my favourite cities).

Not to mention that fact that a crazy Hitler lookalike manages to take over one of my favourite Alt Hist nations (the CSA)and starts killing off the blacks and that a Militaristic Japan then manages to take over all the pacific and Asia...

I could go on, but basically, TL 191 is the Anti - Spitfiremk1 of Alternative History.

On the other, i would probably have to agree with Zionist Uganda or Analytical Engines Britwank Empire as being my two utopias.
 

schrammy

as far as utopian go i would like to nominate rast's shift in priorities witch at least so far, seems to be an plausable version of an world witch is better than our TL, with the notable exception of the US and mexico.
 

Spitfiremk1

On one hand, TL 191 (apart from the obvious ones) would actually count as one of the most dystopic (for me at least). I mean, it has a massive, militaristic, Germanophone USA that gradually turns quasi-socialist state that totally rapes Canada together with a Victorious Whilhelmine Germany and Austria Hungary that then both go on to destroy the British Empire and nuke London, Paris and St Petersburg (three of my favourite cities).

Not to mention that fact that a crazy Hitler lookalike manages to take over one of my favourite Alt Hist nations (the CSA)and starts killing off the blacks and that a Militaristic Japan then manages to take over all the pacific and Asia...

I could go on, but basically, TL 191 is the Anti - Spitfiremk1 of Alternative History.

On the other, i would probably have to agree with Zionist Uganda or Analytical Engines Britwank Empire as being my two utopias.
 

Eurofed

Banned
Onkel Willie said:
Is seriously no one nominating my 'The Great Mistake' TL for dystopia. OW is a sad panda now :(
Click to expand...

On the other hand, I can eagerly nominate two TLs of yours ("Munich Coup" and "Liberal German Empire") as being as close to utopian as you can get with a high-probability PoD and plausible development. No Nazism, no Soviet Communism or it gets destroyed in WWII, no Maoism, early globalized economic development, accelerated technological development with a serious colonization of space, Germany and Italy not raped by WWII, Japanese militarism still snuffed out, Europe ends up united...
 

rcduggan

For the most dystopic, I'm going to go with For All Time (though it was either that or the Cuban Missile War TL or A World of Laughter). While in A World of Laughter only the US is a complete shithole, in FAT every single nation by the end has become has become a shithole (with the possible exceptions of the Jerusalem League and the Nordic Council). In short, Statichaos found a way to make everything go wrong for the US post WWII, while Chester A. Arthur found a way to make everything go wrong for the world in the second half of the twentieth century.
 
Michel Van

Michel Van

the Cuban Missile War and its Nuclear Nolocaust

every timeline were the Nazi win WW2,
wat include Holocaust on over 100 Millions of humans in Europe

and "Telerop 2009: Es ist noch was zu retten"
that German TV serie from 1974 and that look in future of 2009
wat is today a dystopia AH
Earth is almost biological death true environmental pollution
and last survirors of mankind living in Citystaates under dictatorship of U.N.
 

statichaos

I agree on taking my "A World Of Laughter, A World Of Tears" out of contention for all of the reasons listed above, and also for the fact that I think that I've dropped enough hints that there is an eventual turnaround.
 
Aranfan

Aranfan

statichaos said:
I agree on taking my "A World Of Laughter, A World Of Tears" out of contention for all of the reasons listed above, and also for the fact that I think that I've dropped enough hints that there is an eventual turnaround.
Click to expand...


Orwell dropped hints in 1984 that there would eventually be a turn around.


Thinking about it though, Decades of Darkness might be a worse dystopia than Laughter & Tears.
 

Max Sinister

Banned
Dystopia? Hard to decide, since the authors seem to try to top each other. If ASBish TLs count, then WH40k might win.

For utopic: I'm partisan of course, but I like the end of my Chaos TL very much :) (which is why I wrote it). The time between, of course, isn't that much better than OTL.
 
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